	Bob Hostetler > Writing

A Plea for Proportion

by Bob Hostetler

Last month, in response to an act of war (invasion of sovereign Israeli territory and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers), the democratically-elected government of Israel launched attacks against the terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and their Lebanese strongholds. From the first days of that conflict, many voices decried the “disproportionate” nature of Israel’s response (U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan among them).

Though no one specified what a more proportionate response to Hezbollah’s illegal actions might be, one can surmise that the pleas for more proportion would include the following:

1. Israel must strip their military of uniforms and markings that clearly indicate their combatant status, and wear civilian clothes, in violation of all Geneva accords, as Hezbollah does. In fact, Israel should henceforth violate every Geneva convention. That would be more proportionate.

2. Israel must move their civilian population back into harm’s way. After all, one reason Israeli missiles have resulted in so many more casualties than the Hezbollah rockets is that Israel—as a responsible, humane government—evacuated 300,000 helpless people from those areas most vulnerable to attack (a refugee situation the world community has ignored). A more proportionate action would be to move civilians—especially women and children, for maximum propaganda effect—back into harm’s way.

3. Israel must launch their attacks from civilian areas. Hezbollah (and the Lebanese government) has not only largely failed to evacuate civilian populations, they have used those civilians as human shields, launching their thousands of missiles from civilian locations. This presents a win-win scenario for Hezbollah; either Israel cannot fight back because of the danger to civilians, or their counter-attacks will supply Hezbollah with great propaganda for repeated use on BBC, CNN, and the AP. In order to be more proportionate, Israel must do the same, no matter how many innocent lives it will cost.

4. Israel must actively target civilians on the other side. Israel has been using precision-guided weapons to minimize civilian casualties; Hezbollah, of course, targets civilian areas (including residences, schools, and hospitals) with unguided rockets armed with ball bearings and other items designed to maximize the carnage. For Israel to do the same would be far more proportionate.

5. Israel must not regret, investigate, or apologize for civilian deaths on the other side. Israeli has expressed regret for civilian casualties, emphasizing the impossibility of responding to Hezbollah’s tactics without such results. Hezbollah, on the other hand, celebrates the Israeli civilians they manage to kill or maim. A more proportionate response would be for Israel to do the same.

6. Israel must show no restraint. So far in this conflict, Israel has taken measured steps to achieve specific ends. The Israeli military clearly has far more destructive capacity than they have so far used. Hezbollah, on the other hand, is throwing their best weapons at Israel’s civilians as fast as they can. In other words, no one doubts that Hezbollah is going all-out; in order to be proportionate, Israel (a nuclear power) would have to do the same.

7. Israel must publicly call for the destruction of Hezbollah and occupation of Lebanon. Hezbollah proudly articulates their goal in this and every conflict: the destruction of Israel. Israel has demanded the return of their kidnapped soldiers, the disarming of Hezbollah according to United Nations Resolution 1559, and to be left in peace. That is clearly disproportionate, so Israel must measure up to the standards of Hezbollah (which the world community seems to like so well).

8. Israel must fire their democratically-elected government and operate without accountability. Israel is a representative democracy, with numerous political parties that engage in open (endless, actually) debate and demand constant accountability. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, funded by Syria and Iran, operating within the boundaries of a supposedly sovereign nation, Lebanon. In order to be more proportionate in this conflict, Israel must transform itself into a freelance thugocracy that utterly ignores international borders.

If Israel can do those things, then we may expect the international community—including the United Nations—to be pleased at the specter of a more proportionate war.

Of course, reasonable people everywhere expect nothing of the kind. Nor do they wish anything of the kind. But that won’t stop the calls for more proportion, unless someone stops to think about what that would mean.

This article appeared in the August 6, 2006, edition of the Hamilton Journal-News.

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